> The plan is to build Proteus off the coast of the Caribbean island of Curaçao, at a depth of 60 feet (~18m).
An underwater lab at only 2 atmospheres on an island famous for its shore diving accessible by car? This reminds me of a Freeman Dyson quote I referenced [0] in a different thread on underwater exploration:
> [The Russians] are very proud of the space station and for good reasons. They believe that human activities in space are an end in itself, essentially as an international sporting event. They don't sell it under false pretences as a scientific program.
Why do they want to build in near Curaçao? Sounds like a great way to ruin the already weak water ecosystem near Curacao. I have to admit I have a summer house in Curaçao so might be biased.
>> One of the other big names he's enlisted is Yves Béhar, a name you might recognize from a variety of tech projects like One Laptop per Child. He and his company Fuzeproject designed the futuristic-looking station.
Um ... wasn't that the premise behind an Archer episode? Sea Tunt? The rich Tunt brother had backed both the sea base and one laptop per child. Is this the tail wagging the dog or at some personal level is there a link to the show?
I don't really get this - is the bends the only reason for doing this? If so, why not mix some other inert gas than Nitrogen that doesn't have the problem?
So.....an underwater lab where the whole premise is not having to do a lengthy decompression....and yet it's only down at 18m depth? Reading the article I thought they were aiming for much deeper than that, it seems like there's hardly any benefit at the dept given. According to this[0] table, decompression from that depth takes just 2 hours?
If we are comparing this thing to the ISS, an emergency return from the ISS would take just under five hours. So someone with an appendicitis can probably get home before dying. Much further away than a few hours and otherwise routine medical emergencies start get much more difficult.
The important part about ascent from depth is ratio of pressure at initial depth to decompression stop depth. So 10m to surface is 2x, 20m to 10m is 1.5x, and with depth the ratio becomes smaller and smaller. It's the last 10-20m of ascent which are the most critical WRT decompression illness (and this is also the reason why even recreational divers who do not need decompression still do safety stop at 4-6m). Placing the lab at 18m down is a good balance between dramatic reduction in decompression time for deeper dives and simpler (cheaper, more reliable, etc) life support systems, as well as ability to get in and out within a reasonable time. To reduce the need to decompress after staying at the station the atmosphere there could be enriched in oxygen. At deeper locations you'd need to seriously worry about long-term oxygen toxicity (and thus use helium mixes, which is both expensive and brings other issues, the first being the need to certify divers for use of mixed gasses - that requires training way in excess of what most researchers would have).
I was happy to read that at least some of the journalists covering Victor Vescovo's recent dives got the references in his vessel names (I think it's not unlikely the later ones cribbed off the first few articles).
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[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 62.9 ms ] threadAn underwater lab at only 2 atmospheres on an island famous for its shore diving accessible by car? This reminds me of a Freeman Dyson quote I referenced [0] in a different thread on underwater exploration:
> [The Russians] are very proud of the space station and for good reasons. They believe that human activities in space are an end in itself, essentially as an international sporting event. They don't sell it under false pretences as a scientific program.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23482656
[1] https://perimeterinstitute.ca/videos/living-through-four-rev...
> Fresh air, power and internet will be provided by an umbilical cable to the surface.
Um ... wasn't that the premise behind an Archer episode? Sea Tunt? The rich Tunt brother had backed both the sea base and one laptop per child. Is this the tail wagging the dog or at some personal level is there a link to the show?
Cool base though :)
[0] https://www.hse.gov.uk/pUbns/dvis5.pdf
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_medicine
(Full disclosure: I'm a technical diver:)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_habitat